Home/Do whatever the host says except leave (Pesachim 86b) teaches that we should long to be in Hashem's presence, not in golus.

Do whatever the host says except leave (Pesachim 86b) teaches that we should long to be in Hashem's presence, not in golus.

Feb. 6, 2008

Thought this might be of interest to you:

The Talmud (Pesachim 86b) cites an interesting rule of etiquette governing guest-host relations: "Whatever the host instructs, you must do, exectp when he says: 'Get out of my house.'"

Chassidic teaching applies this to our relationship with God: as "guests" in God's world we must obey all that He instructs us to do - except whe He tells us to "get out." When He banishes us from His presence we are not to obey, but to persist in our efforts to come close to Him. So, even as we submit to its decrees, we do not reconcile ourselves with the phenomenon of golus. When God commands "do this or don't do that," we obey; yet, we refuse to accept the golus per se, refuse to accept the closing of venues in our relationship with God."

I write that excerpt because no matter how one views the oaths in kesubos, it is wrong to have the mindset that the ikur of a movement is to desire golus to continue. Just as the gid hanashe is "not kosher" because it represents the idea of the nations overpowering Israel, and that is not a "kosher" idea, so too the ikar of one's Torah philosophy and movement is wrong to be one of justifying, nay longing for the continuance of golus.

I understand where you are coming from, though. Your movement and your fine Torah explanations depend on finding bias towards hotly pushing the idea that we are in golus no matter what the circumstances. Otherwise, if we were not, where would the movement go? It's kind of like Noach who, after having tried to save the world as his mission in life, returned as a survivor without a mission. Someone once explained to me that might be one reason why he got drunk immediately afterwards. He was depressed that his mission that he made his sole raison detre was no longer a concept he had to deal with. It was over and he might have felt that his purpose in life was done, a depressing thought.

Your quote about not leaving when the Host tells you to leave was used by Reb Tzadok Hakohein in prophetic reference to the Zionists. See our Parsha Pearls, Shlach:

Many people are puzzled by the Zionist state's apparent successes. If it is truly a violation of the oath, they wonder, it should have been condemned to immediate failure, like the "mapilim" of Moshe's generation.

Rabbi Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin, in Tzidkas Hatzadik 46 (written 1848, first published in 1913), sheds some light on this question. He writes that the "mapilim" knew that their act was against the will of Hashem, but justified it based on the statement of Chazal, "All that the host tells you to do, you must do, except for leaving (Pesachim 86b). They understood this to mean that for the sake of coming close to Hashem, one may sometimes violate the command of Hashem; we need not listen when He tells us to leave Him. Despite these good intentions, they were punished severely for their sin. But Moshe said to them, "And it will not succeed" - this time it will not succeed - hinting that there would come a time, in the era known as "the Footsteps of Moshiach," when such a sin would have success. In the Footsteps of the Moshiach, chutzpah will increase (Sotah 49b). That is the time when such a brazen idea to conquer the land in violation of Hashems command will meet with some success. However, we must keep in mind that their success does not change the fact that they are acting against Hashems command, and that the success is only temporary.

Why do you say we are longing for the continuance of golus? We are longing for the redemption of Hashem and we want no substitute. Here is a section of our Parsha Pearls that expresses that longing:

After Avram had lived in the Land of Canaan for ten years, Sarai, wife of Avram, took Hagar the Egyptian her handmaid and gave her to Avram her husband as a wife. (16:3)

The Gemora (Yevamos 64a) explains that this is a reference to the halacha that if a man is married for ten years and has no children, he must marry a different wife in order to fulfill the mitzvah "be fruitful and multiply" (Bereishis 1:28). In connection with this rule, the Midrash tells the follows story: Once there was a couple in Sidon who were married for ten years and had no children. They came to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and asked him to arrange a divorce. He said, "By your life, just as you got married with food and drink, so too you will separate with food and drink." They followed his advice and made a great feast. She induced him to drink too much, and then he said to her, "My daughter, choose whatever good thing of mine you want in the house, take it and go to your father's house." After he fell asleep, she told her servants to lift him on a bed and carry him to her father's house. In the middle of the night he awoke and the drink had worn off. "Where am I, my daughter?" he asked. "In my father's house," she said. "What am I doing in your father's house?" "Didn't you tell me to choose any good thing I wanted from your house? There is nothing better in the world for me than you!" They went to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, he prayed for them and they were blessed with a child.

The Midrash concludes, "One human being said to another human being, 'There is nothing better in the world for me than you,' and then they were answered. Then the Jewish people, who are waiting for the redemption of the Holy One blessed is He every day, and saying, 'We have no other desire in this world but You,' all the more so!" (Midrash Rabbah on Shir Hashirim 1:4)

The woman had waited many years to have children and was now ready to give up and go marry someone else. But once she expressed her true thoughts that she wanted nothing other than her husband and she refused to give up, G-d answered her. In the same way, the Jewish people have waited hundreds of years for G-d's redemption. Now some of them are ready to give up and go look elsewhere for their redemption. In this difficult time we must remain faithful, express our true dedication to G-d and declare that we want no substitute, nothing else but Him. Then and only then will our redemption come.